On the use of a modified clean-room optical particle counter for atmosperic aerosols at high relative humidity

Abstract

This study is devoted to the performance of the CLIMET CI-8060, a white-light optical particle counter (OPC). Designed for clean-room monitoring, the off-the-shelf performance of this instrument is rather poor for outdoor studies. Modifications of this instrument are described turning this low-cost instrument into an OPC with excellent performance. The modifications include a reduction of the flow rate to 1.4 l/min, an altered design of the inlet nozzle, a buffer chamber to assure continuous flow, and a 16-channel pulse height analyzer. The modified version has been checked thouroughly. The counting efficiency is very close to 100% for particle sizes between 0.295 and 0.801 μm. The loss of giant particles is also marginal, as comparative tests with a cascade impactor show. The sizing calibration has been redetermined experimentally, using latex spheres, and theoretically, applying a software package by Jüngert [1988] using the Mie theory. With the help of the established relationship between experimental and theoretical response for latex, calibration tables for any other particle material are obtained (in particular for ambient aerosols and H2O for fog and cloud condensation studies). The modified counter has been used for monitoring the growth of hygroscopic aerosols in humid conditions, using two different inlet lines, one of them drying the aerosol before entering the OPC, the other one preserving ambient conditions. This system allows to observe haze and fog formation and cloud condensation processes in situ at a one-minute time resolution. © 1990.